


Everything's Alright, Tonight

by Tangela



Series: It's Ineffable [3]
Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Feelings, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Other, This is very soft my dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 02:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19454395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangela/pseuds/Tangela
Summary: Aziraphale had something that he'd needed to get off his chest for, oh, a century or so. Crowley had always thought he would have been the one to crack first.Or, what happened after Crowley offered Aziraphale a place to stay.





	Everything's Alright, Tonight

“You can stay at my place, if you like.”

Crowley had meant it innocently, an offer from one friend to another. That was what they were, after all, wasn’t it? No matter how much either of them had tried to deny it. It seemed silly to now.

But the sudden look of uncertainty on Aziraphale’s face quickly made him regret ever opening his mouth.

Still, it wouldn’t do to start something without finishing it.

“I don’t think my side would like that,” Aziraphale murmured.

“You don’t have a side anymore,” Crowley replied just as softly. “Neither of us do. We’re on our own side.”

Aziraphale stared off in the night, before bringing himself to look at Crowley again. There was so much conflict in just that one look, it was enough to break a man’s heart.

“I suppose you’re right,” he all but whispered, throat dry. “If you don’t mind, just until…Until…”

He trailed off as Crowley flagged down a passing bus. Until what, neither of them knew.

\--

The journey back to London was made in uncomfortable silence. In all their years of knowing each other, this was the quietest they had ever been. Crowley had so much to say - so very much - but one look at Aziraphale, head turned deliberately to look out the window, hands clasped firmly in his lap, made him stop.

This wasn’t ever how he’d wanted this to go. He’d hoped to have asked that very question after a much lighter turn of events, such as dinner and perhaps a few drinks, rather than the end of the bloody world.

And now that’d he asked, and Aziraphale had agreed, he realised just how wholly unprepared he was. How was one supposed to host an angel? Crowley had no idea. In all of six thousand years, this was the first time that this had ever happened.

Aziraphale still hadn’t said a word even as Crowley unlocked the door to his flat. Crowley could tell he was struggling, he knew the look of when Aziraphale needed to say something but couldn’t quite figure it out all too well. There wasn’t much he didn’t know about the angel after six thousand years.

“Oh, you never told me you were a gardener,” he finally spoke as Crowley shut the door, his gaze roaming the wide stretch of plants that greeted him.

Crowley said nothing, watching Aziraphale as he drew close to the plants, examining each one carefully.

“They really are lovel-“

“Don’t you dare!” Crowley hissed suddenly.

Aziraphale jumped, turning around quickly.

“What? What have I done?”

“You were about to use the L word!”

Aziraphale frowned, in a manner that said that he was quite fed up with Crowley’s nonsense. It was a look reserved only for him. Crowley was quite proud of that.

“Really, Crowley. You’ve put such work into these plants, and they’re beau-“

Crowley made another noise, raising a hand.

“Not another word. If you keep saying things, they’ll...they’ll grow soft. And that’s not how I run things here.”

“Do listen to yourself. What on earth are you talking about?”

As much as Crowley genuinely was adamant that Aziraphale keep his angelic mouth shut around his plants, he was also grateful to be back to their usual bickering. Anything was better than that long stretch of unbearable silence. It had been driving him mad.

“I read somewhere that talking to plants helps them grow” he explained. “So I thought I’d, y’know, put the fear of God into them. Speed the whole process up a bit. Make them grow better.”

Aziraphale clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “That’s hardly _your_ job, now, is it?”

“Well, someone’s gotta do it,” Crowley said with a shrug.

And just like that, it was gone. The little bubble of normality had burst, and Aziraphale fell silent again. He sat down, looking as though he had the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. He had, only a few hours ago. Both of them had.

“This isn’t the end of it.”

He looked up at Crowley.

“Is it?”

“No. No, I don’t suppose it is,” Crowley said soberly.

“But it’s going to be the end of you and me.”

Aziraphale looked down at his hands in his lap.

“I don’t want to die,” he said, so softly that Crowley could barely hear him.

“It’s not dying, angel. Just, you know, inconveniently discorporating,” the demon offered lightly.

Aziraphale met his gaze again with great effort. “Not this time.”

Crowley sat down with a sigh. There was no point in arguing anymore.

“Listen, Crowley,” Aziraphale started, “I- Well, there’s something that I need to tell you. Something that I’ve been needing to tell you for quite some time now.”

“Angel-“

“No, please. Let me finish. Before I completely lose my nerve.”

Aziraphale’s eyes were pleading, and Crowley just nodded.

“Thank you. For a while now- Well, a very long while now, I’ve- I’ve been feeling a certain way. And I’ve told myself over and over that it isn’t real, that it’s some form of demonic trickery, or that someone up there is testing me. I’ve even tried to convince myself that it was _you_ trying to tempt me. But I know that isn’t true. An angel cannot lie, after all, not even to himself. The truth is that I-“

Aziraphale took a breath, and the rest came tumbling out in an anxious rush.

“I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.”

He immediately shut up, eyes wide at the realisation of what he’d said. He looked as scared as Crowley felt.

“How long?” Crowley asked after a time.

“Oh, um, only a century or so,” Aziraphale replied with a shaky little laugh, but Crowley could see the tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“Only a century,” he repeated with a smile.

“Perhaps a little longer than that,” Aziraphale admitted. “I could never find the right time, and this is hardly it, is it? But then I thought- Well, I thought, what if…What if I never got another chance?”

His voice was barely more than a whisper.

“What if I lost you?”

He dabbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his coat.

“Please say something,” he whispered. “Anything.”

Crowley shook his head, gently wiping a tear from Aziraphale’s cheek.

“You know, I always thought _I_ would be the one to crack first,” he said.

The angel frowned.

“What are you talking about?” he asked with a little sniff.

“Oh, come off it,” Crowley said with a scoff.

Aziraphale was still looking at him with a perplexed expression.

Crowley raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re serious? You didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

Crowley chewed at the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out the best way to phrase what he wanted to say next. Then he thought better of it. His actions _had_ always spoke louder than his words, after all. He leaned in close, cupping Aziraphale’s cheek with his hand. He was so close, closer than he’d ever dreamed of being, and Aziraphale wasn’t pulling away, no, he was leaning in too.

Their lips met, and it was everything Crowley had imagined it would be, and somehow so much more. He’d always wondered why humans were so obsessed with kissing. In all of his time on Earth, he had never thought to do it with someone else. Never had the notion. The lust-addled demon stereotype was something created by humans and not one that he had ever really endorsed. Perhaps there was some truth to it, but it just didn’t fit him at all. But now, here, with the very being who had been by his side from the beginning, he was very quickly starting to understand the appeal of kissing.

Aziraphale’s hands nervously fell against the lapels of Crowley’s jacket, and Crowley moved a little closer, pressing a little harder, and Aziraphale went all too willingly into his arms.

They really should have done this years ago, Crowley couldn’t help but think to himself.

Aziraphale’s face was flushed pink when they finally broke apart.

“Oh,” was all he could bring himself to say.

Crowley laughed, a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

Aziraphale swallowed, trying and failing to meet the demon’s gaze. “I, um- Listen, I don’t think I can-”

Crowley shushed him. “This is enough for me too,” he murmured sincerely.

Aziraphale smiled, his face a mix of relief and uncertainly.

“Do you think we’ll get into trouble for this?” Crowley asked.

“As if we aren’t in enough trouble as it is,” Aziraphale replied, trying to sound casual, but his voice was a little too high.

“Don’t you worry, angel. I’ve got a plan.”

“You do?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? Have I ever let you down?”

Aziraphale thought for a moment. “No, I don’t suppose that you have,” he replied with a smile.

“I know it seems like a lot, our side against theirs, but trust me, we’ll make it out of this.”

“Our side. You know, I’m starting to like the sound of that,” Aziraphale admitted.

“Glad I’m not the only one, then.”

\--

It hadn’t taken Crowley long to set up the guest room. It looked just the same as it had the day he’d moved in, and was always miraculously aired out and free of dust. Not that either of them needed to sleep, Aziraphale had reminded him on a number of occasions, but a goodnight’s sleep had never hurt anyone, Crowley was all too fond of replying.

He’d thought that after everything that had happened – and the things that were bound to come – that Aziraphale would appreciate a little space of his own.

He stood in the doorway, watching Aziraphale warily. The angel had gone very quiet again, and Crowley felt the need to fill the silence.

“I know it’s not your bookshop,” he said, “but I thought it would do, just for now.”

Aziraphale turned to face him with a smile.

“It’s...Oh, it’s wonderful, really. Thank you.”

Crowley just shrugged. “Anything for you, angel.”

Aziraphale was practically beaming. He leaned in, pressing a shy kiss to Crowley’s cheek.

“Thank you,” he murmured, and both of them knew it meant more.

Crowley took Aziraphale’s hand in his, giving it a small squeeze.

“Everything will be alright, trust me,” he said.

“I do,” Aziraphale murmured in reply.

They shared one last kiss before Crowley left. The door clicked shut behind him, and if he wasn’t mistaken – and with his hearing, he rarely was - he could hear Aziraphale sigh to himself. That same little sigh he made whenever he’d managed to ward off another potential customer from parting him from one of his books, or after the first bite of angel cake. A contented sound. Crowley smiled to himself, before he too retired for the night.

He’d make sure they made it out of this. He couldn’t bear to lose his best friend. Not again.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm certain by this point that everyone's done a version of what happened after the bus stop scene, but I had to contribute a little something. I took a few details from the book, and a few from the show, so I do hope it's okay. I may edit and/or add to it in the near future, but considering how late it is and how ill i feel, it'll have to do for now. The title is from [Never Let Me Down Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY9pIO8mlgg) by Depeche Mode (I think Crowley would be a fan of them). Thank you for reading!
> 
> Twitter: @robospacetrash  
> Tumblr: @maybeishouldwritesomething


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